WonderCon 2016: Why Rebirth Will Make You Excited For DC Again

The panels held at WonderCon 2016 this weekend focused on DC’s next chapter in comic books. With so much focus going to the movies and television shows, DC’s elite came out to show that they were still focused on making quality comic books. Since DC’s latest branding with DCYOU, sales and quality have significantly tapered off, and this looks to be an honest effort to bolster readership and sales. Whether or not you believe them, there’s no way that some of the titles and creative teams won’t garner at least a little bit of excitement.

The biggest change to DC’s new line-up is that, of the 31 new titles, 17 of them (the flagship titles, mostly) will be released bi-monthly, all with a lower retail price of $2.99. Now, I’m no dummy, so it sounds to me like if you want to subscribe to one of the more popular books, that you will be forking over $6/month for two thinner books as opposed to one long-ass book of poor quality. It’s a trade-off that sounds fair, but might make it tricky to keep up with it all, but it’s a move in the right direction.

Here’s a forecast of all the upcoming books, their creative teams, and any notes of interest, all gathered from Newsarama’s live stream (great work, guys!):

Aquaman
Writer: Dave Abnett & Brad Walker
Artist: Brad Walker, Jesus Merino, and Phil Briones
Note: It seems Aquaman of the comics will stave off the urge to be based off the Jason Mamoa comic book version, and still with his New52-ish style. The story will revolve around Aquaman trying to make Atlantis part of a larger world.

Batman
Writer: Tom King
Artist: David Finch and Mikel Janin
Note: These are some mighty big shoes to fill, with Scott Snyder giving up the mantle.

CyborgWriter: John Semper
Artist: Will Conrad and Paul Pelletier
Note: This series will ask the question “where does the soul of the machine end, and the soul of man start?” I hope they don’t make this too deep like the latest series. Vic is still a young man, and it’d be cool to see him have fun along the way. The story also takes place in Detroit, a city that isn’t too kind to the men or machines that live there.

Detective Comics
Writer: James Tynion IV
Artist: Eddy Barrows and Alvaro Martinez
Note: The new Detective Comics has THREE Robins – one of them is Spoiler and the other Cassandra Cain, but close enough. It also features Tim Drake in his classic Robin suit and… a good guy Clayface?

The Flash
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Carmine di Giandomenico and Neil Googe
Note: Here’s a new one: There’s some sort of Speed Force Storm (not at all like the Terrigen Mists, I’m sure…) that creates dozens of speedsters around Central City that Barry must mentor. There’s also a new villain named Godspeed – pretty clever.

Green Lanterns
Writer: Sam Humphires
Artist: Robson Rocha and Ardian Syaf
Note: The main focus of this story is Jessica Cruz (current Power Ring) and… brace yourselves… SIMON BAZ! Together, they will take on the Red Lanterns.

Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps
Writer: Robert Vendetti
Artist: Ethan van Sciver and Rafa Sandoval
Note: While Hal’s name is on the cover, it seems that the book will heavily feature John Stewart. Good. He was poorly used in the New52. The bad guy here is likely going to be Sinestro.

Harley Quinn
Writer: Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner
Artist: Chad Hardin and John Timms
Note: Jimmy and Amanda are back in control of Harley, which has been one of DC’s best-selling titles since it launched. There’s new artists on it this time, likely to free up Amanda Conner, who has been signed to an exclusive contract with DC, to work on another book. Conner also promises more cameos.

Justice League
Writer: Bryan Hitch
Artist: Tony Daniel and Fernando Pasarin
Note: A little weird, but the Darkseid Wars from the New52 story is still going (there are two more issues), even while the Rebirth titles start up, and the bomb was dropped that Joker’s real identity will be revealed in Justice League #50. The new Justice League is going to include the core players we all know and love, but will be adding Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz to the mix in place of Hal Jordan. Sorry, Shazam, ya didn’t make the cut.

Justice League America
Creative team: unknown

Nightwing: Blue suit is back
Writer: Tim Seeley
Artist: Marcus To and Javi Fernandez
Note: Appearance-wise, the black and blue is back. This is a jump back in time, when Dick had just started to spread his wings and come into his own. This Nightwing explores a new potential mentor in a mysterious stranger named Raptor.

Suicide Squad
Writer: Rob Williams
Artist: Jim Lee and Philip Tan
Note: If this is not a trick, and this run is indeed done by Jim Lee, there isn’t a whole lot that can stop me from buying into it. From the cover, we can see that the new team is pretty much comprised of the main characters from the movie. Lee’s Harley looks fantastic.

Superman
Writer: Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason
Artist: Patrick Gleason and Doug Mahnke
Note: It is a bit weird seeing Patrick Gleason draw anything but Batman or Robin, but I’m excited to see this team try their hands at the Man of Steel.

Wonder Woman
Writer: Greg Rucka
Artist: Nicola Scott and Liam Sharp
Note: Rucka returns to WW after a 10-year hiatus. In doing a bi-monthly release, Rucka will be writing two different arcs at first – one with a flashback “Year One” vibe and the other set in modern times.

Monthly Titles

Batgirl
Writer: Hope Larson
Artist: Rafael Albuquerque
Note: Burnside is out, Asia is in. Also kind of interesting that the same artist whose work on the Killing Joke variant was banned ended up being the regular artist.

Batgirl & The Birds of Prey
Writer: Julie & Shawna Benson
Artist: Claire Roe
Note: Batgirl recruits Canary to get the band back together, with Huntress eventually joining back up.

Batman Beyond
Writer: Dan Jurgens
Artist: Bernard Chang
One of the very few creative teams to remain intact with Rebirth, Jurgens and Chang start over with a new Batman Beyond story – one where Terry McGinnis is back in the suit.

Blue Beetle
Writer: Keith Giffen
Artist: Scott Kolins
Note: Would it be greedy to live in a world where Jaime Reyes and Ted Kord were Blue Beetle at the same time? Well, that seems to be in the case in this book.

Red Hood & The Outlaws
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artist: Dexter Soy
Note: The last Red Hood & The Outlaws wasn’t so great, but with Artemis and Bizarro joining the team, the wackiness factor should be enough to pique readers’ interest.

Supergirl
Writer: Steve Orlando
Artist: Brian Ching

New Super-Man (formerly The Super-Man)
Writer: Gene Yang
Artist: Viktor Bogdanovic
Note: Chinese teenager gets Superman’s powers. It’s like being able to tell Superman’s story all over again, with this young man learning all the life lessons that took Clark decades to pick up.

Super Sons
Creative Team: unknown
Note: Son of Batman meets Son of Superman. This could be DC’s answer to Spidey.

Teen Titans
Writer: Ben Percy
Artist: Jonboy Myers
Note: In direct contrast to a group led by Nightwing, who the heck would want to be in a Titans group led by Damian Wayne? Nobody, probably, but from the cover, it seems Beast Boy, Raven, Starfire and a new speedster will be forced to join forces at some point.

Titans
Writer: Dave Abnett
Artist: Brett Booth
Note: It might be called Titans, but this new book has all the makings of a Young Justice comic book with Nighwing, Arsenal, Wonder Girl, Aqualad, and another character from the cover I can’t quite make out.

Trinity
Writer: Francis Manapul
Artist: Clay Mann

Surprise Announcement

All-Star Batman
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: John Romita Jr., Jock, Tula Lotay, Paul Pope, Afua Richardson, Sean Murphy
Note: A huge announcement for DC fans is that Scott Snyder has been locked down with an exclusive contract. This new series of his follows Batman and Two-Face as the two share a Road Rash style trip to escape assassins. That’s just the first arc. Apparently this laundry list of artists will keep Snyder writing Batman books until the end of time. Oh, also, All-Star Batman is thankfully not related to All-Star Batman & Robin.

Titans #1

Aquaman #1

Justice League #1

The Flash #1

Hal Jordan and The Green Lantern Corps #1

Green Lanterns #1

Cyborg #1

Batman #1

Detective Comics #1

Nightwing #1

Batgirl #1

Batgirl and The Birds of Prey #1

All-Star Batman #1

Action Comics #1

New Super-Man #1

Supergirl #1

Trinity #1

Superman #1

Wonder Woman #1

Harley Quinn #1

Suicide Squad #1

Green Arrow #1

Hellblazer #1

Deathstroke #1

Batman Beyond #1

Blue Beetle #1

Teen Titans #1

Superwoman #1

Super Sons #1

So, does DC Comics’ Rebirth have you sold on their new marketing plan? Which titles are you going to splurge on, and which titles do you think need to be cancelled before they begin? Let us know!